I didn’t know anything about Lipoedema until 2018, but I noticed my legs were difficult to reduce in size after I had my son, who is now 36. I know some people notice symptoms around puberty, and I may have had it then but because I was unusually tall for a female in the 70s, and didn’t start menstruating till I was 16, I wasn’t aware I was different except in terms of my height. My mother had difficulty with clothes for me then, due to my height and small waist, and my feet were difficult, too, as I was a size 8 and there was no way I could get nice shoes. Filling out around puberty, I didn’t let it stop me – I joined a swimming club and loved it. My mum started to make my clothes, which were nice, more fashionable and long and wide enough in the right areas (the standard patterns were useless).
When I got married, I moved with my husband to Germany, as he was in the Forces, and I had my son out there in 1989. To lose my baby weight, I tried dieting, swimming, even Jane Fonda workouts, Callanetics and the Reebok Step workout. They were difficult workouts but I never achieved what I felt I should. I remember a military nurse saying I was putting on too much weight during my pregnancy, and I’d tell her I was trying and weight was always an issue, and that probably her recommendation didn’t take into account my height of 5ft 11. Maternity dresses were limited in length and loose to accommodate the bump but difficult over my hips. The most embarrassing thing was having to squeeze into a hospital tunic with a big bump to have an X-ray to measure my hips for a breech birth. I was mortified that the narrow gown didn’t fit well.
Then you live your life and years go by, still with big thighs, hips and bottom, as they are to this day. For years I’ve worked in retail and beauty therapy, all jobs on your feet and legs. As I’ve got older, they’ve become very painful, but I didn’t know anything about Lipoedema until, in 2018, a customer came up to me and said, ‘I hope you don’t mind me saying, but by the shape of your legs and hips, I think you may have Lipoedema.’ I gasped and asked her to explain, and she said that she had it, too, and advised me to go to my doctor and tell them I have Lipoedema, and ask to be referred to my local Lymphoedema Clinic. This I did and I was referred.
I am so grateful to have Lipoedema as the answer, though I doubt I will ever be able to have liposuction at my age of nearly 63. But I must say the tights from the NHS are far more comfortable to wear. For years before diagnosis, I had red-raw inner thighs from chafing of the skin, but the new tights are made to measure and take into account my height. Yes, they are hard to get on, but I feel more comfortable with them on and wear them daily.
At the clinic, it was also suggested that a keto diet has been successful for some people. I tried and lost 4 stone. I still have tender and big legs, but it feels good to have less pain from inflammation. Lipoedema causes inflammation as it is, without processed and refined foods adding extra inflammation.
